A protester stands in front of a police truck. She was later arrested and held for 13 hours without being charged. Credit: Emily Epstein White

Ferguson, Missouri. It’s all we can think about at the moment. There’s the gross incompetence of the police that started it all. There’s the huge divide between what the mainstream media is covering and what the people who are actually on the ground are reporting. There’s the sadness and frustration of the people of Ferguson. We continue to report as the story unfolds.

Team Blackness also discusses a man in Texas who has been in prison for 34 years but hasn’t actually been convicted, a Brooklyn resident who received a $125,000 settlement after being arrested for filming a stop & frisk incident, and how an ER visit to bandage a finger cost a man $9,000.

https://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/balloon_juice_header_logo_grey.jpg00Elon James Whitehttps://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/balloon_juice_header_logo_grey.jpgElon James White2014-08-20 12:54:022014-08-20 12:54:02Our Eyes Are On Ferguson

The source claims that there is “solid proof” that there was a struggle between Brown and Wilson for the policeman’s firearm, resulting in the gun going off – although it still remains unclear at this stage who pulled the trigger.

There are probably getting pollsters to check on whether it’s a good idea to charge Michael Brown with shooting a police officer.

How can the cops keep selling the story that Brown struggled for a gun and got a shot off when the autopsy says there’s NO GUNPOWDER RESIDUE ON HIM.

Also, the Ferguson PD isn’t winning any popularity contests if they have officers caught on film screaming “Go F-ck Yourself” to unarmed protesters after RAISING HIS RIFLE AND THREATENING TO SHOOT THEM.

Somehow, a complete failure to teach law enforcement basic customer service manners has happened…

It’s such a depressing situation, especially seeing people who I’ve seen were previously sympathetic turn harder and harder toward the police line because, hey, they got proof that Mike Brown was really a super-vicious hyper-violent mega-thug, and that proves that the entire black community there are really just a bunch of self-supporting super-thugs too!!

The police and their enablers have successfully turned this into a public trial on Mike Brown and are well on their way of finding him guilty of common black thuggery, just like they did with Trayvon Martin.

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to add, the inevitable “WHY AREN’T BLACKS PROTESTING BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE” that we all saw coming, with the unspoken but highly implied “doesn’t that prove that blacks are inherently hyper-violent savages?!”

It seems that a school on church property was raided today (for the 3rd time) by St Louis county police under the pretense of looking for unlawful occupancy. The building was being used by organizers as a place to gather. They say it was locked each night and no one was staying in it.

It’s unclear if they removed any property, but various reports have suggested that milk (used to treat tear gas in eyes) and gas masks were removed.

The vacuum of organization on the ground in Ferguson remains apparent. What do I mean? We see no public organized face to the protest, just a set of rotating independent actors, some honorable, others not so much….

There is organization on the side of counter-insurgency. First and foremost is former FBI informer the most Reverend Al Sharpton. He can lead rallies calling for justice for Michael Brown and admonish others to stay within boundaries ostensibly set by the family, in whom he has sunk his vampiric fangs, but apparently he can’t bring himself to join the protesters in the street and defend their right to be there.

I’m also waiting for all those so serious Missouri Officials et al calling for everyone not to rush to judgement about poor old Officer Davis to shake their not so fast to prejudgement finger at everyone saying Mike Brown was a shoplifting aggressive jaywalker and clearly deserved summary execution on a public street.

The local PD is fucking ridiculous. Their story (or stories) changes almost every day. You could fertilize every field in Missouri with that bullshit.

As for the (repeated) raids of that church’s school, I don’t have the words. And these “peace officers” confiscated milk and gas masks? I suppose they were extremely disappointed they didn’t uncover Molotov cocktails and actual contraband.

@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: Same here. I’m having a fun time holding the line against my better half. I’ve basically decided to go with a ‘the police are lying in order to cover their asses’ counter-argument every time she mentions one of these character assassinating headlines.

The unfortunate thing is that there seems to be as significant a risk of the story being turned on its head and held as proof of inherent black criminality and riotiousness. The narrative is already being hammered in and in many ways, that’d be even more galling than if the story faded away.

Why I’m not buying the rumor of a “blowout orbital fracture” for Officer Wilson, or conversely, why if he has one, I think it was from having a buddy cop rough him up after the fact.

If you’re an MMA fan, you may remember Bob “silverback” Sapp. A giant of a man who was 6’5″ and 350 lbs of muscle. During a fight with Mirko Cro Cop, he took a shot to the eye that fractured an orbital bone, and went down to the mat in a heap. Afterwards, he was in tears from the pain. It also frequently causes blurred or double vision, and can lead to bone fragments embedding in the brain or puncturing the eye if immediate medical treatment isn’t sought.

Officer Wilson is a scrawny guy based on his photos, and not a professional fighter. After suffering a fractured orbital, not only was able to still shoot straight, but he was recorded strolling around the shooting scene as if nothing had happened. So, an injury that was enough to drop a professional pugilist didn’t cause a Ferguson cop to miss a beat.

@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: I know, and a white group protesting would just be exercising their first amendment rights. But it’s still going to have to stay in the news. And maybe the only way it stays is that there’s always this fear of blacks doing something, but it’s the white newspeople that keep getting arrested.

Unless news stations start scouring the country for places similar to Ferguson, I don’t see another way to do anything about this unless this stays hot for a while.

It’s not completely unrealistic to ‘tough out’ an orbital bone. I’m a wrestling fan, and I know three incidents regarding orbital fractures or otherwise eye-related trauma: Big Van Vader had his eye knocked out of socket by Stan Hansen in a match after a stiff (a.k.a. real, or as realistic as possible) shot to the face with a forearm. He managed to finish the match by popping it back in, somehow. Bryan Danielson, a.k.a. Daniel Bryan, had his orbital broken after a knee to the face in the corner wasn’t pulled quite enough by his opponent in Ring of Honor. And Rey Mysterio accidentally broke Undertaker’s orbital with a seated splash that went awry. All three guys managed to tough it out.

But here’s the kicker there: all three incidents, the guy’s eye was noticeably and unmistakably swollen and bruised after, not a minute after the break or injury. It’s nigh impossible to miss that kind of thing when it happens. All three got immediate attention once they were out of the ring, because that is not an injury you fuck around with. The fact that it took this long for this supposed ‘detail’ to emerge immediately sets off by Bullshit Meter on High. A ‘bruise to the face’ can be missed, a ‘giantically swollen bruise to the eye’ that tends to accompany these kinds of things is like wearing a fucking traffic cone on your head, it’s an immediate eye grabber (pardon the pun).

How can the cops keep selling the story that Brown struggled for a gun and got a shot off when the autopsy says there’s NO GUNPOWDER RESIDUE ON HIM.

It doesn’t have to be true. It just has to muddy the waters enough to give an excuse for people to believe that Brown deserved to be shot. The same with the shoplifting charge; they don’t have to prove that he was guilty of anything or that the cop knew about it, just smear him enough to give people who want to believe the worst an excuse to do so.

Over at Charlie Pierce’s place, he quotes The Riverfront Times about a woman who was shot in the head leaving a protest in Ferguson on August 12th. The victim says doctors told her that the bullet had been confiscated by police after it was removed, but there’s been no follow up.

@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: yes, very depressing. if you make the mistake of reading any comments sections in any news story about ferguson, it’s all hate and racism. i shouldn’t be surprised but it saddens me that so many in this country harbor such prejudice and hate. i’m also surprised to find that my liberal friends aren’t even following ferguson at all, which is also depressing.

keep up the good work, elon, i’m following you on twitter and listened to your frightening account of the tear gassing in the neigborhood the other night. stay safe.

I know, and a white group protesting would just be exercising their first amendment rights.

And a white group that was walking around armed to the teeth would just be exercising their 2nd Amendment rights. But since the people complaining believe blacks have “no rights which the white man was bound to respect”, they don’t care about the comparison.

How can the cops keep selling the story that Brown struggled for a gun and got a shot off when the autopsy says there’s NO GUNPOWDER RESIDUE ON HIM.

Not to mention, the shots to the right arm are on the palm and inner aspect of the forearm and biceps, all of which suggest a defensive posture, such as hands up or arms shielding the body.

If he turned around to charge Wilson, his palm and inner arm would be turned inwards toward his torso, and would be some of the least likely places to be hit if he was charging forward. If the shots to his arms were fired at point blank range, there would be powder residue, as he was wearing a t-shirt and his arms were fully exposed.

And that’s not even getting into the fact that he’s 6’4″, and the kill shot was on the top of his skull.

I’ve been trying to figure out how an officer seated in a vehicle is going to lose control of his service pistol (customarily holstered on the right) to someone situated outside the vehicle on the driver’s side.

@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: Yeah, and those guys are used to getting punched in the face, repeatedly, night after night. Especially Vader. They’re also used to suffering through injuries. This orbital bone thing is either a total fabrication or he got a buddy to punch him in the face afterwards. If his buddy did at least break a bone in his face, that’s justice.

@Botsplainer: Yeah, the “witness” who told Wilson’s side of the story said the gun had gotten turned around, facing his hip and when Wilson pushed it away it went off. How does a 6’4″ heavyset guy get his body through the driver’s side window, past the steering wheel and a squirming cop to turn a gun in a holster around? The whole thing stinks. And is anyone else worried that since they had Brown’s body for a few days at the county coroner’s office, Brown’s DNA and/or fingerprints are going to show up on the gun whether he ever touched it or not?

The most horrifying thing to me is how crystal clear it is that the Ferguson police have been used to doing what they want when they want and in whatever way they want.

The whole world is watching and they are acting worse than Brown shirts. The shit they are saying in front of cameras and on open mics tells you everything you need to know about them. If they will act the way they are acting out in open daylight and in front of cameras I tremble to think of the things they did in hiding.

Horrible. Ferguson must have been a terrible place to live for a long, long time.

Yeah, the “witness” who told Wilson’s side of the story said the gun had gotten turned around, facing his hip and when Wilson pushed it away it went off.

I’m guessing that’s a preemptive story to account for shots that Wilson fired and missed. We know Brown was shot 6-times, but what was the capacity of Wilson’s magazine, and how many bullets were left? In using deadly force, all shots fired should be justified.

Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun, a source close to the department’s top brass told FoxNews.com.

“The Assistant (Police) Chief took him to the hospital, his face all swollen on one side,” said the insider. “He was beaten very severely.”

Unfortunately for the police, someone took a video of Wilson immediately after the killing (the cop on the right). He sure doesn’t look like he “suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture”, and he isn’t behaving as though he was “nearly beaten unconscious”.

I’ve seen two different posts from people on Facebook peddling stories about Ferguson that are apparently supposed to prove the police did nothing wrong. One that the cop was black, with several commentators basically saying HAHA. Case closed. The cop was black. As if that negates brutality claims, or police overreach. Sort of the way Zimmerman being Hispanic was supposed to be the end of the story for Trayvon Martin. The other is the claim an autopsy contradicts eye witness testimony.

There are a certain number of people in this country who are invested in this story being nothing more than a thug who got shot committing a crime. Any other suggestion about police brutality, racial profiling, over militarization, is all the work of racial agitators like Al Sharpton.

It’s not just Ferguson. Women who complain about sexism and harassment just can’t take a compliment. Gay people who complain about homophobia are just intolerant of someone else’s intolerance. Black and Hispanic people who complain about racism just want to feel like victims and can’t get over the past.

What I can’t figure out is why? Why is the automatic reaction of a certain section of the population to deny anyone’s claims of discrimination? What benefit is it to those people that everyone else just grins and bares it?

The other necessity would be some fairly intense bruising and abrasions on Brown’s knuckles and hand. Breaking someone’s eye orbit without a boxing glove would be intensely painful and hard to do as well, leaning into a car window where you couldn’t have room to put the power into the punch. The coroner said that there were no signs of struggle on Michael Brown’s body. Also

The lies are flagrant and should be embarrassing for any truly professional police… It is also very troubling that they aren’t even trying to look professional — allowing support from the KKK and continuing to stone wall providing any information other than smearing Michael Brown. I consider myself a fairly moderate liberal but I still have smoke coming out of my ears on this!

I’ve seen two different posts from people on Facebook peddling stories about Ferguson that are apparently supposed to prove the police did nothing wrong. One that the cop was black, with several commentators basically saying HAHA. Case closed. The cop was black. As if that negates brutality claims, or police overreach. Sort of the way Zimmerman being Hispanic was supposed to be the end of the story for Trayvon Martin. The other is the claim an autopsy contradicts eye witness testimony.

Well, the officer definitely wasn’t black. His dad forgot to scrub some pictures of him from facebook. Definitely a white guy.

@Hal: Been reading Pat Lang’s blog huh? I have a news flash for ya’ll. Whether you like it or not plenty of people feel just as strongly that the cop was just doing his job as there are people that are convinced it was murder. If someone is shocked by that then someone is really naive.

@Hal:
The idea that things aren’t fair and these things don’t happen to you because you deserve it scares the crap out of some people. Because it means they’re not protected. This kind of shit can happen to them, even if they don’t deserve it.

@chopper: “Made up shit” is a mild characterization of what is going on here. I think the only one who was more into making shit up was Josef Goebbels broadcasting “live” reports from Stalingrad that originated across the street from the Ministry of Propaganda in Berlin.

Its tribal. You know, how you root for your people no matter what till the last dog dies. To some whites in this country, black people are the enemy — never to be agreed with, supported or otherwise included in the term WE the people….Its clear from the brazen way these cops have behaved that they have normalized the behavior that would lead to overreaction and outcomes such as Michael Brown’s murder. The way they have attacked non violent protesters as well as the media representatives tells me that this is a deep problem in Missouri and may rife throughout the county police and judicial or prosecutorial agencies and departments. That said, Obama is going to have to handle this carefully. This is not going to be a one step fix but multi-stepped and involving and examining Missouri’s system for policing and providing justice… Again, it tells me what they are up against to see the brazenness with which critical information continues to be withheld and/or made up.

What I can’t figure out is why? Why is the automatic reaction of a certain section of the population to deny anyone’s claims of discrimination? What benefit is it to those people that everyone else just grins and [bears] it?

You’ve tried to figure out why but have not succeeded? Can you say anything about the possible explanations you’ve considered and rejected? (Thanks.)

By coincidence, I’ve just finished re-reading Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch. It involves an attempted revolution, crowds rioting, corrupt (and not-corrupt) police. Parts of it could be an exemplar for how things could have been done in Ferguson to have it not turn to shit.

To some whites in this country, black people are the enemy — never to be agreed with, supported or otherwise included in the term WE the people….Its clear from the brazen way these cops have behaved that they have normalized the behavior that would lead to overreaction and outcomes such as Michael Brown’s murder.

This is what seriously pisses me off. I served with “those people” in the Army. Some were good and dear friends. Some were my loyal and hardworking subordinates. Some were mentors. Some taught me but a small fraction of the knowledge they’d accumulated in service, and it was like a deluge that was more than I could handle in a short period of time. Some of my best and most valuable NCOs were “those people”. I owe them a debt that can never be repaid. If we had gone into combat, they’d have my back, and I’d have theirs. Skin color means nothing, NOTHING, when you have a common mission, a common goal.

Again, there would be at least some bruising on Michael Brown’s knuckles and hand. The human skull is pretty hard. The kid was not a professional fighter. As was also pointed out upstring, Wilson would be hurting and showing evidence of an eye injury all the time he was walking around on that video without showing any pain. The coroner said that there was no sign of struggle on the kid’s body.

@Paul in KY: they’re not DFHs but i’d say they’re solidly liberal. which is why i was surprised they weren’t following ferguson.

i can’t remember if it was here, but someone recommended aljazeera america for coverage of ferguson. i prefer it because their reporter and camera person are in the thick of things, not behind a fence like chris hayes. not that i’m blaming chris hayes, it doesn’t look very safe there.

In your experience and awareness, as well as that of many other white people like you, lies the redemption for this country. Your misery is valuable and your experiences will count, no matter how painful this whole process unfolds… I believe that from the bottom of my heart.

Well I’m about to get sick
From watchin’ my TV
Been checkin’ out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it’s gonna change, my friend
Is anybody’s guess

So I’m watchin’ and I’m waitin’
Hopin’ for the best
Even think I’ll go to prayin’
Every time I hear ’em sayin’
That there’s no way to delay
That trouble comin’ every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin’ every day

Wednesday I watched the riot . . .
Seen the cops out on the street
Watched ’em throwin’ rocks and stuff
And chokin’ in the heat
Listened to reports
About the whisky passin’ ’round
Seen the smoke and fire
And the market burnin’ down
Watched while everybody
On his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash
And slash and bust and burn

And I’m watchin’ and I’m waitin’
Hopin’ for the best
Even think I’ll go to prayin’
Every time I hear ’em sayin’
That there’s no way to delay
That trouble comin’ every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin’ every day

Well, you can cool it,
You can heat it . . .
‘Cause, baby, I don’t need it . . .
Take your TV tube and eat it
‘N all that phony stuff on sports
‘N all the unconfirmed reports
You know I watched that rotten box
Until my head begin to hurt
From checkin’ out the way
The newsman say they get the dirt
Before the guys on channel so-and-so

And further they assert
That any show they’ll interrupt
To bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up
They will be the first to tell,
Because the boys they got downtown
Are workin’ hard and doin’ swell,
And if anybody gets the news
Before it hits the street,
They say that no one blabs it faster
Their coverage can’t be beat

And if another woman driver
Gets machine-gunned from her seat
They’ll send some joker with a brownie
And you’ll see it all complete

So I’m watchin’ and I’m waitin’
Hopin’ for the best
Even think I’ll go to prayin’
Every time I hear ’em sayin’
That there’s no way to delay
That trouble comin’ every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin’ every day

Hey, you know something people?
I’m not black
But there’s a whole lots a times
I wish I could say I’m not white

Well, I seen the fires burnin’
And the local people turnin’
On the merchants and the shops
Who used to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watched the mob just turn and bite ’em
And they say it served ’em right
Because a few of them are white,
And it’s the same across the nation
Black and white discrimination
Yellin’ “You can’t understand me!”
‘N all that other jazz they hand me
In the papers and TV and
All that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more every day
Each time you hear some nitwit say
He wants to go and do you in
Because the color of your skin
Just don’t appeal to him
(No matter if it’s black or white)
Because he’s out for blood tonight

You know we got to sit around at home
And watch this thing begin
But I bet there won’t be many live
To see it really end
‘Cause the fire in the street
Ain’t like the fire in the heart
And in the eyes of all these people
Don’t you know that this could start
On any street in any town
In any state if any clown
Decides that now’s the time to fight
For some ideal he thinks is right
And if a million more agree
There ain’t no Great Society
As it applies to you and me
Our country isn’t free
And the law refuses to see
If all that you can ever be
Is just a lousy janitor
Unless your uncle owns a store
You know that five in every four
Just won’t amount to nothin’ more
Gonna watch the rats go across the floor
And make up songs about being poor

I think the best way to change things in a non-violent way is for everybody to go out and vote for people that better represent their communities. I know I sound like Capt. Obvious, but if there’s a better way I’m all ears.

Massive get-out-the-vote drives, voting by mail, a voting holiday, and independent commissions to draw congressional districts would be good start.

What I can’t figure out is why? Why is the automatic reaction of a certain section of the population to deny anyone’s claims of discrimination? What benefit is it to those people that everyone else just grins and bares it?

Because then “their country” filled with “real Americans” isn’t perfect. Which it has to be because God made it. Anything “wrong” with America is caused by Outsiders.

While I certainly support your values, voting is the last manifestation of a truly democratic political system. It is successful when the people’s will and the means to implement that will are in synch. Lawful institutions and governance follow that — not before.

We have a bit of work to do in Missouri and elsewhere, I am afraid, before the voting will work. I am not discouraged by that. Democracy must constantly be renewed, fought for. Maybe we got a bit lazy and took this for granted. I think now, however, scales have fallen from a few eyes and we see the cancer that was lurking under superficially “lawful” institutions. It is good to know this. Time to get our buckets and scrub brushes.

And so, I don’t know — you know, I don’t know what — you know, what kind of evidence they’re going to hear, but in the event that they conclude that this was not — you know, that this was, for instance, an accidental shooting…

@Villago Delenda Est: Assuming one has about 30,000 days in all, and assuming the first 25% should be spent mostly on learning how to act, that still leaves more than 20,000 days in which to act. If even one useful action per day is possible, that’s a lot of useful actions.

@Mandalay: Oh, those cuties. Never crosses her inter-ear airspace that maybe people have had practice, have prior experience with this whole being unarmed and shot thing and have managed the whole patient thing? Any interest in what might make this case different from all those others? Let alone any flighty concern about the situation in her world where all this accident-prone weaponry is being tossed about the nation to fumble-fingered-whoops-machines with badges?

Police sources speaking on condition of anonymity to the NYT, say that Officer Wilson DID shoot at Michael Brown as he was running away, but missed. So, the eyewitnesses who believe Brown was shot in the back, believed it because Wilson actually was trying to shoot him in the back.

That said, it shouldn’t stop them from placing Wilson on leave and firing his boss for incompetence while handling the aftermath. Also, they need to let us know where Wilson is (not specifically the address), but that they know where he is. He should be in the state of Missouri. The state indictment will go on its on track but that shouldn’t stop the justice department from its investigation and own data collection.